You're Driving Me Crazy
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"You’re Driving Me Crazy" is an American popular song composed (music and lyrics) by Walter Donaldson in 1930 and recorded the same year by Lee Morse, Rudy Vallée & His Connecticut Yankees and Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians (with vocal by Carmen Lombardo). The song became a hit and was added to the 1930 musical comedy Smiles, starring Marilyn Miller and Fred and Adele Astaire. It was also recorded in 1930 by McKinney's Cotton Pickers and by Nick Lucas & His Crooning Troubadors. Nick Lucas's version, released on Brunswick, was a No. 7 hit: Brunswick 4987 (E-35404). The chords of "You're Driving Me Crazy" form the basis for Bennie Moten's great "Moten Swing."
In 1931, cartoon character Betty Boop sang a sexy version of the song in the pre-code cartoon Silly Scandals. As Boop sang the song, her dress slipped down repeatedly, revealing a lacy bra and causing her to squeal. Later in the song, Betty was joined on stage by a line of mechanical dancing penguins who stomped out the beat in accompaniment to her singing.
"You're Driving Me Crazy" has become a standard that has been recorded by over 100 artists. The artists who have recorded the song include Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, Mel Tormé, Della Reese, Betty Carter, Django Reinhardt, Peggy Lee, and Lester Young. A version by The Temperance Seven made number one in the UK Singles chart in 1961.[1]
The song has also been performed in the movies including:
- The 1931 Paramount Betty Boop cartoon Silly Scandals noted above.
- Fleischer Studios 1931 cartoon called Screen Songs, with jazzy scat singing of "You're Driving Me Crazy" by various animals. There is a dancing lion which looks like Betty Boop, monkeys and other animals, including a Cab Calloway sound-alike.
- The 1991 film The Marrying Man starring Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin. "You're Driving Me Crazy" is performed by Alan Paul from Manhattan Transfer.
- The 2005 Oscar-nominated film Good Night, and Good Luck. "You're Driving Me Crazy" and other standards performed by Dianne Reeves.
- The 2001 soccer/prison movie Mean Machine. "You're Driving Me Crazy" is performed by Bob Brozman on a soundtrack.
Notable recorded versions
References
External links
- A useful list of links to many of the recordings mentioned above
- Vivian Buczek performing an excerpt
- Carling Hot Six on YouTube
- The Temperance Seven Version on YouTube
| Preceded by "On The Rebound" by Floyd Cramer |
UK number one single (The Temperance Seven version) May 25, 1961 (one week) |
Succeeded by "Surrender" by Elvis Presley |